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Service D1: Service History

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Service D1 (1934–1973)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

Prior to the introduction of the new local Dudley area bus network on Monday 1st October 1934, Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) ran Service 209 between Dudley and Priory Estate. At the Dudley end of the route, Service 209 terminated outside Station Hotel at the bottom of Castle Hill, and on the Priory Estate the terminus was at Forest Road. Station Hotel was located, as the name would suggest, very close to Dudley Railway Station, but this was also the site where a number of tram routes converged, providing good connections for onward travel. With the introduction of the new bus network, Service 209 was renumbered to Service D1 without any change to the route.

The new local Dudley bus network also saw the introduction of Service D2, which ran over the same route as Service D1 between Station Hotel and Hazel Road. It then ran via Hazel Road, Laurel Road, and Wrens Nest Road to terminate at Gorse Road. Service D1 and Service D2 were often combined on the same timetable and inter-worked on the Castle Hill section of the routes.

After the war, Service D1 and Service D2 were extended at the Dudley end by about 150 meters to start and finish at BMMO's Dudley depot. The Dudley terminus moved again in 1952 when the new “Fisher Street Omnibus Station” opened near the Town Centre, and all BMMO bus routes in Dudley were rerouted to serve that site. This latter move would have shortened the route, but the last trams in Dudley had been replaced by the Service B87 group of bus routes on Sunday 1st October 1939, and these were also rerouted to Dudley's new bus station so onward connections were maintained from that site.

BMMO's involvement with most routes in Dudley ended on Sunday 2nd December 1973, when operation of all local Birmingham and Black Country services, including Service D1 and Service D2, passed to West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) from the start of business on the following day.

More details about BMMO Transfer of Services and Assets to WMPTE can be found here… Midland “Red” History: Transfer of Services and Assets to WMPTE.